The Springfield Cardinals raced in front with three runs in the eighth, claiming the 6-4 come-from-behind win against the San Antonio Missions before 6,047 fans at Wolff Stadium on Saturday night. The Cardinals start the season with a series win, taking two out of three in San Antonio.
After Cardinals RHP Daniel Poncedeleon (W, 1-0) started his Double-A debut with a quick 1-2-3 inning in the first, San Antonio (1-2) plated a pair of unearned runs in the bottom of the second. RF Yeison Asencio started the stanza with an infield single. Asencio then raced home on a throwing error committed by SS Andrew Sohn after fielding a groundball from 3B Gabriel Quintana. With Quintana on at third after the miscue, Poncedeleon dug in with a strikeout of 1B Duanel Jones for the first out. However, LF Alberth Martinez followed with a grounder to short that just got by Sohn, enabling Quintana to come home on the fielding error and making it 2-0.
After getting out of the troublesome second, Poncedeleon dominated the Missions, retiring 13 straight batters from the final two outs in the third through the first two outs in the seventh.
Meanwhile, Springfield cut the deficit in half with one run in the top of the fourth against RHP Cesar Vargas. With two down and 3B Paul DeJong at second after a double, RF David Washington rifled an RBI double to right field, scoring DeJong to make it 2-1.
The Cardinals (2-1) completed the comeback in the top of the sixth. With two away, DeJong extended the frame with a free pass. After moving to second on a wild pitch from RHP Rafael De Paula, DeJong raced home on a game-tying RBI single from Washington, squaring the score at 2-2.
Poncedeleon continued to cruise through a 1-2-3 sixth and retired the first two in the seventh, but C Ryan Miller snapped the consecutive outs streak with a two-out triple in the seventh inning. After pinch-hitting 2B Taylor Lindsey reached on a walk, Poncedeleon misfired a wild pitch that enabled Miller to dart home from third for the go-ahead run, 3-2.
The Cardinals, though, came right back with a rally in the top of the eighth against LHP Brandon Alger (L, 0-1). CF Harrison Bader sparked the charge with a single to left, followed by a walk from 2B Bruce Caldwell. One out later, Washington worked a walk to load the bases for 1B Chris Jacobs. Jacobs came through with a game-tying RBI sacrifice fly to left field to score Bader, which was compounded when LF Alberth Martinez dropped the fly ball, enabling everyone to be safe on the play. With the bases still loaded and RHP Adam Cimber taking over on the mound, LF Collin Radack scorched a go-ahead two-run single through the middle, propelling Springfield into its first lead, 5-3.
After a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth from RHP Chris Thomas, the Cardinals stayed on the attack in the top of the ninth. Bader again got the offense started with a one-out double, before moving to third on a grounder to the mound. With two down, DeJong struck with a laser of an RBI single to left field, bringing in Bader for the 6-3 lead.
With RHP Ronnie Shaban (S, 1) on the mound to try to slam the door in the bottom of the ninth, the Missions were not quite done. Quintana led off with a solo home run, before 1B Duanel Jones reached on an error. However, with the tying run at the plate, Shaban proceeded to induce a foul out, a fielder's choice and a game-ending strikeout to close the 6-4 win for Springfield.
